2021 :: week 1

 

December 27

Back on December 6th we made Salmon Soup (lohikeitto) in honor of the Finnish Independence Day. Anthony posted about it on facebook and several friends have reported back to us that they have since made it as well. It is fun to share things you enjoy with the world and have others appreciate them too. Sunday evening our friend Chris stopped by with a few servings of lohikeitto to share. His son, Eli, is currently serving his mission in Finland and they connect over their mutual affinity for all things Finnish. 

December 28

For Christmas I received a foot massager. I love it and enjoy pampering myself with it most evenings. Sometimes I leave it out and the kids take advantage of it too.

December 29

Happy Birthday to Anthony! One of the perks of his job is that everyone is given a paid day off on their birthday, which meant we were able to spend the entire day together. Due to COVID we decided to keep birthday celebrations small this year, even though it was a milestone birthday. We had a family sauna session and then Tony cooked steak for dinner. It was a pretty quiet day. 

December 30

On Wednesday evening we went to my parents' house to celebrate my mom's birthdays. She wanted it to be more a celebration of all the the Crane family December birthdays. When she was young she was frequently disappointed when her birthday was overlooked due to its proximity to Christmas. She wants to make sure the next generations of December birthdays don't feel forgotten due to the busy time of year. There are now five December birthdays in the family (Henry 12/16, Will 12/17, Melanie 12/22, Tony 12/29 and Mom 12/30). We ate yummy bbq and then shared a giant Costco cake.

December 31

Anthony and I finished watching seasons 1and 2 of the Mandalorian last week. We spent several hour New Years Eve and New Years Day watching the first season with the kids. We did not stay up late to celebrate the end of 2020. Though 2020 has been full of frustration, unexpected disappointments, anxiety and adjustments we have never spent so much time together as a family. We have learned to appreciate things that we used to take for granted, use our imaginations and be okay with waiting for much longer than we would like. I think we will look back on this year and appreciate the slower pace and relatively "simple" life we had.

January 1

It started snowing in the early hours of 2021 and by lunchtime there was about four inches of snow on the ground. In the afternoon we met the Ules at the hill between the school and the Catholic church and went sledding for about two hours. It was Miles' first time sledding and he enjoyed it until he got cold. By the time we got home we were thoroughly chilled. Tony turned on the sauna and we drank hot chocolate while we waited to get in. The kids and Tony got a little crazy and decided to frolic in the snow between sauna sessions. When they were all done they laid down and did snow angels in their swim suits. It was a memorably fun way to start the new year.

January 2

Saturday afternoon Anthony and I boarded a large van at Union Station and rode through the city on the Gangster Tour. It was really fun! I knew the basics, but there was so many things I had never heard of before. We had been wanting to go for quite a awhile and finally made it happen for Anthony's birthday. We have always been interested in Kansas City history and have dabbled with learning at various times in the past. When we came home I requested several books and DVDs from the library to dig in again. I really enjoyed driving around the city and seeing the spots where events happened. The scope of the gangster tour is mostly crime, specifically mob and machine-related crime. I would love to go on a tour focused specifically on business, politics, music or race relations too.